Royal Girl
Royal Girl is an American 2D animated film, released on January 21st of 2008. This was intended to be the first in a trilogy of films, and in spite of abysmal box-office returns and overwhelmingly negative reviews, the next two films in the trilogy were released direct to DVD. Summary The film centers around Mona, a poor girl who gets the opportunity to become a princess. In order to do so, she forces the current king, making him her slave. The former king attempts to get his spot on the throne back from Mona, and he contacts a dark spirit in order to do so. Plot Mona comes from a poor family, and has aspirations of becoming a princess. One day, while she and her mother are walking through town, Mona ditches her and runs to the castle. While in the castle, she knocks over a vase in the hall, which gets the attention of the king. The king lambasts her and a group of guards arrive to see what has happened. Mona blames the king for destroying the vase and she becomes the king's replacement. As part of her position, she suddenly gets magic powers and she converts the king's room into something of her liking, getting rid of all his valuable possessions and making him her slave. The king decides to join forces with a dark demon (who owned a sword Mona wished away) in order to get his position back. The king and demons attempt to fight Mona, but thanks to her mysterious powers, she manages to beat them all singlehandedly and continues to run her position as princess, because princess are entitled to whatever they want. Reception The film was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews, scoring a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus reading "It begs the question, why can't animated films be eligible for the Razzies?" Critics lambasted the film for its poor animation, borrowing too many elements from other films, its bare bones plot and the non sympathetic protagonist. The film has failed to earn back even a fraction of their budget, making it one of the lowest grossing animated films of all time. Comparisons to I Want to Be Queen The film has been accused of plagiarizing a Polish film from 2002, called Chcę być królową. In fact, further investigation shows that Royal Girl has borrowed animation from this film and reworked the plot. * The King being the antagonist, when in I Want To Be Queen, he was more of a supporting protagonist. * The original film ended with the king proposing to Mona's wife and taking both into his palace. In Royal Girl, she pretty much abandons her mother with no regard for the King. * Mona's character was changed the most. She was originally timid and inquisitive, but in this film, she is greedy, selfish and ignorant of the wishes of others. Controversy The director, Madeline Beckit, originally worked with Relativity Media, who provided the funding for the film. She was accused of using a grand bulk of the budget towards personal indulgences, which heavily affected the final product. Beckit was incarcerated for fraud but was released on bail.